Runaway
by stardust2002
Summary: What Kara and Sam had was something very special.


**Runaway**

A/N: For the better part of the last week I've been working on this songfic to a song I rediscovered lately. It is a Kara/Sam story, highlighting the happiness of the relationship between them. I was hoping to finish it before 'Collaborator's aired but since I didn't, you'll just have to imagine things ended differently.

My tribute to Kara and Sam ...

_XXX_

_Say it's true, there's nothing like me and you _

_Not alone, tell me you feel it too _

_XXX_

"Everyone on Caprica is dead."

"You're not."

At first she'd been wary of them, the resistance civilians who were used to doing things _their_ way and not listening to the military 'voice of reason'. But it hadn't turned out like that at all. Samuel T. Anders, their leader, was definitely tough, stubborn and unwilling to back down - qualities she had to admire, seeing as how _she_ possessed them in spades - but the two of them had fallen into a mainly unspoken understanding almost immediately. They'd worked together like a well-oiled machine that had been together for years.

It hadn't been much different personally either.

He'd been more playful and kept the mood light, but though it was something that came together in an entirely accidental way through dire circumstances, it had been the best thing that had happened to her since Zak's death, more than two years earlier.

"I've never felt like this about anyone before."

It was a very cliche line but one look into his frank, blue eyes told her he was telling the truth.

"Neither have I."

_XXX_

_And I would runaway _

_I would runaway, yeah _

_I would runaway _

_I would runaway with you _

_XXX _

"We'll take down the next one, and the next ..."

"That's not why you came."

He had a point. She _did_ have a mission to accomplish for the President, but she'd found a new cause here - one even closer to her heart than her place in the Scriptures - liberating the women who'd been taken as breeding slaves for the cylons. She knew only too well how lucky she was to have escaped and not become one of the nameless mass of women hooked up to machines to become nothing more than wombs for growing cylon experiments. She could barely contain the shudders that tore through her at the thought.

But there was more - staying here to liberate the farms meant staying with Sam. Selfish perhaps, but she was loathe to give up the one thing that made her happy. She knew he wouldn't come back with her even if she asked, begged and pleaded with him. It wasn't that he didn't want to be with her - his eyes told her quite the opposite every time she looked into them - but he, like someone else she used to know very well, had a sense of nobility and duty that wouldn't allow him to leave any of his people behind.

And the heavy raider would only carry ten - after herself, Sam, Helo and Sharon, that meant he'd have to pick six people - and leave the rest behind to be slaughtered by the cylons - something he wasn't capable of doing.

Which was one of the reasons she'd fallen for him in the first place.

"I'm coming back. I said it, I meant it."

He nodded, so close to tears that he couldn't speak. The pact was made, the promise given - _this_ was something that was going to last.

_ XXX_

_Cause I have have fallen in love_

_With you, no never have_

_I'm never gonna stop falling in love, with you_

_XXX_

"I'm hung up on a dead guy, and it's pissing me off, and I don't know _what_ I'm doing."

_That _was an understatement if ever one had been made. She'd thought she was okay with leaving Sam behind but the more time that passed the more she began to feel like she was going crazy.

Adama and Roslin were unanimous - there would be no rescue party. It was a fool's errand to send a dozen or more people to rescue fifty. If Kara hadn't stumbled upon them accidentally no one would have known they were there. Besides, what about the other eleven colonies? Wouldn't there be people stranded on those planets as well? No, it was time to move forward, preserve humanity, such as was left of it, and find earth.

But she couldn't live with it. The memories, the dreams, the flashbacks ... she hadn't wanted to admit it, even to herself, but she'd fallen in love with him, and every day she broke her promise to go back, it killed her just a little more.

Maybe it was worth letting Scar take her out - at least it was a quick and painless death.

But Helo knew the truth - bless him. He wouldn't let her drop it and give up. Love wasn't a reason to quit - it was a reason to fight and never give up.

"Let it be a reason to live."

_XXX _

_Close the door, lay down upon the floor _

_And by candlelight, make love to me through the night _

_XXX_

"Do you regret marrying me and moving here?"

It was a question she'd asked herself several times since coming to this godsforsaken place. It was wet, cold and unpleasant. Baltar and his henchmen lived in the lap of luxury on Colonial One but everyone else on the planet was suffering.

She'd left behind comfort, warmth, family and the one and only thing she'd loved her whole life - flying - in order to come here. Was it enough?

Samuel loved her for being her ... Kara. Not Starbuck, not the hottest flying instructor at the academy, not the ace viper pilot who'd pulled it out of the fire countless times and saved humanity's collective asses. To him she was simply Kara ... a woman to be loved and treasured just because she was, not because of what she did.

It was like a breath of fresh air just being herself and not having to live up to anyone's standards or her own reputation. A breath of fresh, New Caprican air.

It was all candles and firelight here, romantic nights for two, never interrupted by the call of duty. Finally it was time to let go of that life and embrace _this_ one - this life she was going to be sharing with the man she loved.

"Not for a second."

_XXX_

_Cause I have runaway _

_I have runaway, yeah _

_I have runaway, runaway _

_I have runaway with you _

_XXX_

_"_Are you _sure_ this is what you want? I mean, it's not permanent. You can come back ..."

She had to smile. Adama was such a sweetheart. The closest thing she'd had to family since her father had died and left her with that witch of a mother. He actually cared about _her_, not just about Starbuck. And the fact that he was willing to take her back as part of Galactica's crew after she'd resigned and left, seemingly on a whim, spoke volumes about his feelings for her.

She felt bad for leaving ... him and her duties, but wasn't her happiness more important that duty? It had been such a long time since she'd been happy, truly happy, and he was well aware of that. Their shared grief had been something that had brought them together and helped them build the bonds of understanding and caring that held them together now. She knew he'd understand - it was only natural to want to find a partner, someone to complete you and make you feel whole. Someone to share your life with ... perhaps someday to have a family with.

Yes, she missed Galactica and the Old Man, but t_his_ was where she belonged. On New Caprica. With Samuel - her husband, her partner, her soul mate.

"I'm sure. Trust me, this is exactly where I want to be."

_XXX_

_Cause I have fallen in love _

_With you, no never have _

_I'm never gonna stop falling in love, with you _

_XXX_

_If only I could spare him this pain ..._

She tried to harden her heart. Lee had made his choice, she'd made hers. At one time she'd thought that perhaps _he_ was the one for her, but looking back now she could see that though they'd worked together well and sometimes even been good friends, every time they tried to get closer, one or both of them ended up getting hurt.

And she was tired of being hurt.

Sam didn't hurt her. He loved her, worshiped her, doted on her. Gave her everything she needed and more. Everything she'd always secretly wished for but never thought she'd deserved. Her mother had firmly ingrained it into her that she deserved nothing but to suffer because she was human, and humans were frail, stupid beings who did nothing but screw up all the time. Punishment had been her lot in life and she'd grown up, instinctively, unconsciously seeking punishment for all her sins.

But Sam had shown her there was another way to live. A way that consisted of love and forgiveness, and though she'd found it foreign at first, she now embraced it. _ This_ was the way to happiness, not constantly playing games and never knowing where you stand - today being in favour, tomorrow being hated because she'd screwed up once again.

No, whatever chance they'd had was gone forever. She was happy now with Sam, and she hoped he'd be happy with his wife. Much as she despised him sometimes, her life was now good enough that she could be magnanimous and wish him well. He'd suffered enough in his life too and deserved a little happiness.

_If only he didn't look so frakking sad. He has a wife - he should be happy I'm happy with someone who treats me right. It's over between us, has been for a long, long time ..._

_XXX_

_And I would runaway _

_I would runaway, yeah _

_I would runaway _

_I would runaway with you _

_XXX_

"I love you Kara Thrace."

"I love you Samuel Anders."

They melted into each other's arms, perfectly fitting together the way they always had since the first day they'd met and challenged each other to that fateful pyramid game that had led to much more than just military collaboration.

_This_ was where she belonged, where she felt at home, loved, cared for and cherished the way she'd always wanted to be. He was perfect for her, and she for him.

_This_ was happiness.

_ fin _


End file.
